A Critical Discourse Analysis of Donald Trump’s Announcement Speech

Abstract

The study sought to investigate how the language used in Donald Trump’s Announcement Speech positions various actors. Specific focus was on how language is used to signify, produce and contest unequal power relations. Similarly, the study not only sought to unpack how the language used serves ideology and power but also how it enables a better understanding of the political purpose of the speech. Data for the study was drawn from selected representative excerpts resident in Donald Trump’s Announcement Speech. The study was anchored on the theoretic underpinnings of Critical Discourse Analysis. Systemic Functional Linguistics was used as an adjunct theory to provide linguistic tools for analysis. The study made use of qualitative research design. Fairclough’s (1989, 2010) three tier model of description, interpretation and explanation was employed by focusing on both micro and macro discourse analysis. On the other hand, linguistic representation of ideology, power and dominance revealed two contending discourses: the discourse of domination by participants such as Mexico, Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Terrorists on the one hand and the discourse of subordination of the American citizenry on the other. In terms of Agency and nominalization, the study revealed that Donald Trump placed himself in the first position of the sentence, the position of greatest emphasis, which in my speculation portrays him as arrogant and divisive